


Ribbons

by legendofthesevenstars



Series: Xenoblade Femslash Week 2021 [1]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Bittersweet, F/F, Feelings Realization, First Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:13:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29291916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legendofthesevenstars/pseuds/legendofthesevenstars
Summary: Upon seeing the wildflowers in Makna Forest, Melia is reminded of her late mother. She talks about it with Sharla, who explains how her mother used to weave flowers in her hair. As they braid each other's hair with flowers, Melia begins to have strange, unfamiliar feelings about Sharla.
Relationships: Melia Ancient | Melia Antiqua/Sharla
Series: Xenoblade Femslash Week 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2151192
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Xenoblade Femslash Week 2021





	Ribbons

**Author's Note:**

> For the Xenoblade Femslash Week prompt, "Wildflowers."
> 
> Happy Femslash February, and happy Xenoblade Femslash Week! I have four pieces planned for the week. I'm excited to read others' contributions and see all the fantastic art!

The deeper they went into Makna Forest, the denser and thicker the midday air became. Melia had already sweated through her clothes, even though she’d dressed lighter this time around. Before they headed to the Mechonis, Riki wanted to return to Frontier Village to see his littlepon. Nobody could blame him, but the more Orlugas, Hodes, and Eks got in their way, the longer the task of finding Shulk’s friend, Fiora, and the Mechon that had killed her—and Melia’s father—would have to wait.

They took a short detour into the Yellow Flower Grove, because Shulk had remembered that somebody at the village needed Yellow Pollen. A few Caterpiles later, he got what he needed, but the fighting had left everyone sweaty and breathless. Shulk called a break for everyone to get hydrated before they moved on. But the sun was setting, and it seemed more likely that they would sleep underneath the trees for the night.

While the others took their break among the trees, Melia stayed in the grove to admire the yellow wildflowers. They were sweet, delicate little things, but when she bent to smell them, she inhaled the boggy stench of damp, hot jungle soil instead. Wrinkling her nose, she lifted her head and gently stroked the petals with gloved hands. Wildflowers like these were low-maintenance, but could not survive outside the heat and humidity. Just like the flowers growing in her mother’s villa would wilt in the same conditions, because they were native to Eryth Sea.

Mother had so loved her flowers. She had always gushed about how gorgeous the flowers of the Upper Bionis were, so much brighter than in the colonies. Father had made sure Mother had any kind of flower she’d wanted. Unlike his marriage to First Consort Yumea, his marriage to Mother must have been one of love, not just to honor tradition. Father was often stern, but Mother’s presence had softened him. Melia had never seen him look at her without a smile on his face.

The slow march of the years had taken Mother away from her too early. But Melia had always thought she’d get a chance to know Father better than she had. For many reasons, not in the least the circumstances of her birth, she’d expected Kallian to be named heir. She’d never expected to ascend the throne and become the next Empress. Now, she missed those simple days she’d spent with Mother, running around in the gardens picking bouquets just to see her smile.

The grass rustled beside her and she flinched, turning her head to see Sharla knelt on one knee beside her. Her eyes were slightly wide, and she was frowning.

“Melia? Is everything all right?” she asked in a low voice.

“I was simply deep in thought. You need not concern yourself.”

“No, I mean, are you feeling all right after all that activity? You must be exhausted.” Sharla offered the open canteen in her hand. “Here, you should have a drink.”

“Oh.” Melia blinked. “My apologies for misinterpreting your intentions. Thank you.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that.” When Melia tried to return the canteen, she waved her hand. “Have some more.”

“But what about the others?”

“Everyone else has had their fill. You get yours, too.”

“I see.” Though Melia knew Sharla was watching out for everyone because she was a medic, a strange warmth burned her chest when she thought about how Sharla had come looking for her. She drank slowly until the canteen was nearly empty, then handed it back to Sharla.

“There, you’re looking a little less pale now,” she said, hooking the canteen back onto her belt. She lowered her head to look at the flowers. “The flowers are beautiful. It’s a shame we probably got bug guts all over them.” She curled her lip, sticking her tongue out slightly.

Melia stifled a giggle. When she had her composure again, she replied, “They are exquisite. I had never seen them before the first time I came here.”

“You had a lot of flowers growing in your villa. I’m guessing you like flowers?”

Melia nodded. “I would not be so fond of them as I am now had my mother not been so enamored with them herself. Seeing flowers brings back my earliest memories of her.”

“I see. So flowers have a special meaning to you, too.” Sharla smiled, bending to pluck a flower. She spun the stem around in her hand, inspecting the little yellow bloom. “It’s funny you mention your mother, because flowers remind me of _my_ mother, too. I didn’t know her for long, but I can remember clear as day how she used to weave tiny white flowers in my hair when she braided it. It was special to be able to spend time with her. Just us two girls.”

“I also had less time with my mother than I would have wished.” Melia wasn’t sure why she was speaking so freely, but now that Sharla had shared her memories of her mother, her own memories seemed to spill out of her. “Because my mother was a Homs, and I a High Entia, she died when I was still very young. Her love for flowers is one experience I was truly able to share with her. It was a bridge between my upbringing as the princess of the High Entia and her upbringing as a Homs.”

“She must have been very brave. To put her Homs life behind her to marry the Emperor of the High Entia… Wow. I just can’t imagine abandoning my life in the colonies.”

“She loved Father very much, and he returned that love.” Melia sighed. “I wanted to know more about the Homs part of my heritage, but as I grew up, I learned I had to keep it hidden. I learned that other High Entia would look down upon me for the circumstances of my birth, though such circumstances were beyond my control.”

“Did you ever feel uncomfortable being a princess?”

Melia hummed. “That is an odd question. What do you mean?”

“Well…” Sharla stroked the petals of the flowers, not meeting her eyes. “Did you ever find yourself wishing you understood your mother’s common life? Or was imagining it beyond your experience?”

Melia stared at the flowers. She’d spent so little time with Mother and so much more with the First Consort. It was difficult to even imagine understanding more about Mother’s life before Alcamoth. Especially since she’d never had the chance to talk to Father about Mother after her death. It wasn’t as if Kallian had many childhood memories of her, either, since the First Consort had often forbidden him from seeing her.

She’d spent most of her childhood with Mother and her maid, with no other children to play with. She had only seen Kallian a few times a year, if that. Her memories of her mother were distant, but fond. Though she’d been a lonely child, she hadn’t realized it until she was older, because of how much her mother had loved her.

“I am unsure if I am capable of imagining my life outside the capital,” she said. “I still have so many questions for my mother that can no longer be answered. Hence why, when I look at flowers, I miss her so deeply and long for her company.”

Sharla sighed. “I understand the feeling. I mostly played with boys growing up, and Juju’s friends were all boys. That was all fine, but I really wish I’d had my mum. Of course I wish I’d had my dad, too, but mum would have understood all the problems I went through so much better. I just haven’t had the chance to talk to or spend time with other girls.”

“I also found myself lacking the company of other women.”

“That can change starting now.” Sharla finally looked up from the flowers, smiling and meeting Melia’s eyes. “We can braid each other’s hair, just like my mum used to do for me, and weave flowers in it. It’ll be a nice way to relax after all that hiking and fighting today. What do you say?”

Melia nodded. “Yes. I would be happy to do that.”

“Great! Here, you can start.” Sharla turned her back to Melia, sitting on her feet. She dug in her pocket for a small comb, which she handed over her shoulder. Melia accepted it and sat down on her own feet, behind Sharla.

She took part of Sharla’s hair into her hand, gently combing the few knots out of each section of hair. Her hair was the color of darkness paled by stars, satiny and sleek like midnight, and felt like ribbons in Melia’s hand. She removed her gloves so that she could braid more precisely with her bare fingers. When she gathered the hair at Sharla’s temples to begin the braid, her fingertips briefly brushed the soft skin at her hairline.

Melia moved slightly closer, nearly close enough for her knees to bump into Sharla’s feet. She furrowed her brow as she wove the sections of the braid around each other. Everyone’s chatter and laughter became fainter and fainter, and even the rustling of the leaves in the breeze seemed to fade away. She forgot everything but the silky ribbons of Sharla’s hair.

To finish the braid, she tied a small ponytail using a few spare pieces of hair, then inverted it, tucking it so that the crown around Sharla’s head looked seamless, with only a few loose pieces of hair hanging down. Then she plucked a few yellow blooms and tucked them into Sharla’s braid. At the end of the ponytail, she nearly let her fingers linger on the nape of Sharla’s neck, but quickly pulled them away instead. _Her hair is smoother than silk, but has her skin always been so soft_?

“How does it look?” Sharla turned around to face Melia.

Melia barely withheld her gasp. “Stunning. Excuse me, I mean—”

Sharla’s mouth hung open for a moment. Then she smiled. “Good!” She winked. “Do you think those boys will even notice our new hairstyles?”

Melia’s heart dropped into her stomach. Did Sharla think this was something she wanted to do to impress Shulk? That wasn’t why she had asked at all.

“I thought you meant this to be a bonding activity between us,” she said, trying to keep her tone neutral and light.

Sharla looked baffled again. “I’m just teasing you, Melia. There’s no need to take an offhand comment like that so seriously.”

“I—”

“Shh!” Melia flinched. Sharla had placed her index finger in front of Melia’s lips, just barely grazing them. Her heart was pounding in her throat. _I hope I do not accidentally kiss Sharla’s finger. That would be so foolish!_ “I see the apology on your lips. Don’t apologize for being who you are.” She withdrew the finger with a mischievous smirk. “I appreciate how earnest you are. If anything, Melia, it’s one of my favorite things about you.”

“Re—Really?” Melia’s face felt warm. She hoped she wasn’t blushing. Since when had everything Sharla said and did made her heart, and her words, trip all over themselves?

“Of course! Now, can you show me how to undo your hair?”

Melia reached behind her head, freeing the bundles of braids from the ties that kept them together, and letting them loose so they fell onto the ground. She turned around so that her back was to Sharla, though she wished she could stay facing her. _Just to look into her eyes. Her warm, chestnut-colored eyes…_

Sharla gasped. “I had no idea how long your hair was!”

As she unwove each braid, her hands came closer to Melia’s scalp. Melia’s hair fell stiff and soft to her shoulders, and unfurled lower until it brushed the ground. Finally, when it was completely undone, it lay thick like a blanket over her back, extending past her waist.

“There’s just so much of it,” Sharla marveled, stroking Melia’s hair with her bare hands, sending shivers up and down her spine. _I want her to move closer to me. Why does my chest feel so tight?_

Sharla started combing Melia’s hair with the small comb. Melia closed her eyes, feeling the nerves in her stomach settle. When the braiding started, she started to think of those Homs songs her mother had used to sing…

Her eyes flashed open. Sharla was humming a tune she recognized. She hadn’t just been hearing it in her head.

“What is that song?” she asked, staring at the flowers surrounding her knees.

“A lullaby that Otharon used to sing to me and Juju. It’s a love song.”

The word _love_ made Melia’s heart clench and questions rush through her mind. _What is love? What is real love? What does it take to make the same love that Mother and Father shared?_

“Do you remember the words?” she asked. Mother had never sung the words.

“Hmm, I’ll have to think about it. I always fell asleep midway through, and sometimes, he’d just hum it.”

Melia curled her fingers against her lap. “Say, Sharla?”

“Yes, dear?”

Melia’s breath hitched. Why was Sharla making her skin crawl all of a sudden? She wanted to understand these changes. But how could she ask about such private and personal emotions? What confused her even more was that she felt different around Sharla, compared to how she felt around Shulk. Shulk had extended kindness to her and made her feel accepted. That had made her happy. And she’d thought she was jealous that Shulk cared for Fiora. But perhaps that fear was fading now that she understood he was not the only one extending such kindness to her, and now that she was beginning to think about what love really meant.

One thing that made her certain her sudden feelings for Sharla were different was that she didn’t feel both comfortable and nervous around Shulk. Those sudden conflicting feelings were only arising because of Sharla.

“Do you understand love? Not filial love. Romantic love.”

“Oh, Melia. I thought I did. I was engaged. I loved Gadolt. But now that he’s gone, I’m…” She paused in her braiding, gently rubbing a piece of hair between her index finger and thumb. “I’m not sure I remember how being in love really felt.”

“I see.” Melia flexed her fingers over and over in her lap. Her palms were sweating, and Sharla seemed to be nearing the end of the braid. So much for trying to hint at anything. She’d thought she was being obvious enough, but what was it she _really_ wanted from Sharla? Was it only companionship? She barely understood men and women outside her own small world in the capital. So how was she to interpret the strange feelings that Sharla inspired in her, and how could she compare them to what Shulk inspired in her? They were different, to be sure. But why were they different?

“I’m done,” Sharla announced. Melia turned to face her. She lifted the heavy braid over her shoulder and saw the yellow flowers woven throughout.

“How cute!” Sharla cried. She touched her own hairline. “I did a little braided headband up there and tucked in a few flowers. You look so darling!”

“Thank you,” Melia said. Her heart was still pounding in her throat. _Sharla, I think I understand now. Or maybe it is just that I wish to understand so much that it is hurting me._ “I am grateful for the time we spent together.”

“It’s getting dark.” Sharla looked over her shoulder. “The others went ahead, but they’re probably wondering where we are. Come on, we should head to camp.”

She got to her feet, extending her hand. Melia took it and stood up, brushing off the front and seat of her dress. When Sharla let go of her hand, Melia had thoughts of reaching out again, but she only watched her turn around, then followed her back toward the glow of the fire where Shulk and the others waited.


End file.
